I made a mistake in 98. I was eligible to convert my Traditional IRA to a Roth and did so. I informed my preparer, and also told him I wanted to pay the conversion taxes over 4 years. In mid 2000, I discovered that in both 98 and 99, no mention of my conversion was made on my return. In simpler terms, not a dollar of taxes has been paid on my 98 conversion for two years. I know it is my fault for not reviewing my return more carefully, but there it is. My new tax preparer advises me to wait until I receive a letter from the IRS wanting the tax paid. However, I think I should either report the entire conversion amount on my 2000 return and pay the sum at once, or perhaps, should amend my 1998 return, and perhaps, the 1999 return as well. Any advice given would be appreciated.

My question is in regards to the consent requirements to waive QPSA/QJSA. We have a single participant who died and designated her sister as beneficiary. There was no waiver of QPSA prior to the participant's death. I know the beneficiary can still waive the annuity form of payment, but if she is married, does her spouse have to consent to the waiver?

A participant that has been receiving minimum distributions dies. Wife is beneficiary and also is in the plan. What are the options available for the spouse concerning distribution, rollover, leaving it in the plan, etc? Also will the method of calculating the minimum distribution change? Are there options as to how the spouse calculates the minimum distribution? The deceased and spouse are owners.

Can an employee/shareholder (don't know percentage) of a C-corp contribute to a 401(k) plan and make a SEP contribution based on Schedule C income from a side business? If it makes a difference, the employee did not max out their deferral to the 401(k). What would you use as the limit - would you have to net out the 401(k) deferral from the total amount eligible for the SEP? Any help is appreciated!

How do I report on my 2000 Form 1040 a Roth IRA contribution made in 2000? What Form, if any, do I use?

what is the difference between flexible nonstandardized

safe harbor 401(k) profit sharing plans and flexible

standardized 401(k) profit sharing plans?

To the extent that a self-insured plan is protected by stop-loss coverage, is the plan considered self-insured and still subject to the rules of 105(h)? For example, if there is stop-loss coverage for all benefits over $75,000 annually, is the plan considered self-insured to the extent that benefits exceed $75,000?

If I recharacterize a ROTH IRA to a traditional IRA, how long is the waiting period before I could convert that traditional IRA back to a ROTH IRA?

I would like to open a ROTH for my 14yr. old daughter. Can the money I pay her to do chores for me around the house count as earned income? If so does she need to file income tax forms? Without a W-2 form from an employer, I am lost.

A fidelity bond equal to at least 10% of plan assets is generally required. The minimum required bond is $1,000, the maximum required bond is $500,000 (ERISA Section 412).

1. I thought the maximum required bond had been increased to $1 million. Is this correct (or am I dreaming)? What is the site?

2. If a plan sponsor maintains 2 plans, each with assets above $5 million, can a single $500,000 bond that covers both plans meet the bonding requirement, or must the plan sponsor obtain two separate $500,000 bonds. (This assumes that the maximum required bond is still $500,000.) I suspect that two bonds must be obtained.

Thanks

Just wondering what practitioners are doing with respect to the following for a participant who retires, elects a lump sum but is restricted:

(1) Reg. 1.401(a)(4)-5 sets the life annuity equivalent of the accrued as the max that the restricted participant can receive in a year - are practitioners communicating a payment schedule with the above max as an annual cap or is the communication just that "the restricted participant can receive payments under any schedule as long as the max isn't exceeded in a year"; if a schedule is communicated, how is it determined ?

and

(2) The participant who elects a lump sum & is restricted might not be restricted a year later(e.g the RPA rate changes and/or assets perform well); how are practitioners determining the lump sum value a year later after the participant has received payments but of course not exceeding the max allowed as noted above ?

I rolled a 401K (approximately $25,000) into a traditional IRA a few years back. I then converted the traditional IRA into a Roth IRA in 1998 (spreading the taxes over four years). My financial advisor says that I cannot contribute to this "conversion Roth IRA" because it originated from a 401K. Is she correct?

Thanks for your help!

Two minor children are the beneficiaries of their mother's IRA. Their mother disappeared suspiciously and her sister petitioned the court to be Guardian of her Property. The children live with their father (who has full custody). The police have designated the case as a suspected homicide and the father has petitioned the court to declare the mother deceased (all parties reside in Maryland and there is no waiting period to declare a missing person dead, that is done by the courts). The sister, acting as Guardian of the Property, petitioned the court to pay the proceeds from the mother's IRA into Uniform Gift to Minor Accounts with the sister acting as custodian, in the event that the mother is declared dead. The mother has now been declared dead. She left no will and her debts exceed her assets.

Do the proceeds of the IRA go directly to the children, or do they go to the estate to pay off creditors? And what are the tax implications (the mother was 47 at time of death)?

Can an employer who already filed their tax return for 2000 make a contribution to their P/S plan for 2000 and amend their tax return without any penalties?

Are Forms 5558 still filed with the "appropriate" IRS office (i.e., Holtsville, NY Atlanta, GA or Memphis, TN) versus the DoL?

Thanks!

Does anyone know of a good program that generates actuarial conversion factors and annuity factors?

The adoption agreement currently reads as a qualified match. The plan has been operated and tested as a qualified match rather than a regular match.

However the company never wanted the match to be 100% vested. They always wanted to follow the vesting schedule. In the past some participants were paid out 100%. However now the company does not wish to pay out somebody 100%.

I guess we could amend the document going forward but can not convert the QMAC into regular match since some people benefited already the full 100% when they were paid out.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

How do you correct this problem as well as the document?

Thank you.

Any comments on safe harbor and plan mergers -

Company A (calendar year/plan year) maintains a safe harbor plan utilizing the matching method.

Company B (calendar year/plan year) only allows elective deferrals; no employer contributions.

They are a controlled group, plans tested separately, all different employees, and now want to merge the plans during 2001; 6-1-01 for example. Would you:

1. Amend Company B's plan to create a short plan year from 1-1 to 5-31 and do an ADP through that period. Then merge the plans effective 6-1-01 and start the safe harbor match for the Company B's employees as of that date (given proper Notice). They wouldn't have been eligible to participate under the Company A plan prior to 6-1-01, so doesn't seem like they would be entitled to the safe harbor match retro to 1-1-01 under Company A's plan for a time when they weren't eligible to participate.

2. Would merging Company B into Company A mean that the Company A plan will now have to give Company B participants the safe harbor match retro to 1-1-01?

I am retired at age 69 1/2 and due to severe losses in my stock portfolio last year, I will have no income tax due this April. In fact, I will have a substantial loss carry forward into 2001.

I felt that this would be a good time to convert my IRA into a Roth IRA as well as moving my qualified TIAA-CREF funds to the Roth vehicle.

My TIAA-CREF plan allows me to make supplemental after-tax contributions. My question is this: would the supplemental cash also be eligible for transfer to the Roth without incurring another tax liability? Seems too good to be true.

I have a client converting to Automatic Enrollment...the entire eligible population, not just new hires. Has anyone done this before and how much time was allowed for "opt out" before the effective date of the new AE feature. 45 days?